SF’s eclectic nightclub Mezzanine faces closure;...

1of 3An SFGate mobile site release party at Mezzanine in San Francisco in October 2013.Photo: Susana Bates / Special to The Chronicle

2of 3Mezzanine, in S.F.’s Mint Plaza, has hosted acts as diverse as Lady Gaga and the Rebirth Brass Band over its 15-year history.Photo: Lance Iversen / The Chronicle 2008

3of 3Guests line up in 2007 to attend a party at the Mint Plaza nightclub, which could shut its doors next year.Photo: Liz Hafalia / The Chronicle 2007

Mezzanine, a popular live music venue in San Francisco’s Mint Plaza, is set to close next year as the property owner seeks to increase the rent as much as 600 percent by leasing to a tech-office tenant.

Deborah Jackman, who owns the 12,000-square-foot club at 444 Jessie St. said commercial real estate brokers representing the owner of the property recently informed her that they would not enter negotiations for a lease extension beyond October 2019 as they sought a higher-paying tenant.

The property, just off Fifth Street between Mission and Market streets, is owned by the Chritton family, who also operate a tech security business, Microbiz Security Co., out of the basement of the building. Jackman said that the family members suddenly broke off communications with her in recent months, instead directing all questions to their broker.

“They wouldn’t even discuss an extension with me,” Jackman said. “They said, ‘No, we are bringing in a commercial realtor who is going to tell us the most lucrative use for the space.’”

Brad Colton, the broker representing the family, had “no comment.”

The nightclub is one of a number of live-music venues that have been forced to shutter recently to make way for development or to clear the way for tech companies willing to pay much higher rents.

In October, Hemlock Tavern on Polk Street closed to make way for a new condominium project. The Elbo Room on Valencia Street in the Mission District is scheduled to end operations at the end of the year. It, too, is to be replaced by new condos.

Sarah Burton and Neil Uhl watch the election news come in with other supporters of Barack Obama at a victory party for the presidential candidate at Mezzanine in S.F. on Nov. 4, 2008.

Photo: Laura Morton / Special to The Chronicle 2008

Mezzanine, which holds about 1,000 people, has been open for 15 years. For most of that time, the space has been a rare hybrid of live-music venue and DJ-focused dance club. Acts that have played there include Lady Gaga, De La Soul, Florence and the Machine, Ladytron, Robyn and Green Day.

“We might have the Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans one night and the next night we might have someone like Diplo,” said Jackman, referring to the Los Angeles DJ and record producer.

News of the pending closure broke right before Tuesday night’s Entertainment Commission meeting. At that meeting, Maggie Weiland, the commission’s executive director, called it “a really sad story.”

“It’s a female-owned and -run venue providing live music in a safe and fun environment,” she said.

Mayor London Breed called the news “extremely disappointing.”

“Our entertainment and nightlife businesses are an important part of our local economy, but institutions such as Mezzanine are valuable for reasons beyond just economics — they provide important cultural space for our residents, artists and visitors,” she said. “I am hopeful that the owners of the building will stay at the table and continue to work with the owners of Mezzanine to find a solution.”

Breed said she would direct the Entertainment Commission and other city agencies to help broker a deal that would lead to keeping the nightclub open, “as well as looking at other ways we can preserve spaces like Mezzanine going forward.”

At the very least, Jackman said, she would like the owners to allow Mezzanine to stay through the end of 2019. The fourth quarter, with holiday parties and New Year’s Eve, is typically the most profitable part of the year.

“It would mean the world to me, our fans and our 35 employees to have those three months,” she said.

More Venue Closures

Mezzanine helped usher in the revitalization of Mint Plaza. The club was originally opened by Patrick McNerney of Martin Building Co., who developed most of the rehabbed historic residential buildings that ring Mint Plaza.

In 2015, McNerney sold the club to Jackman, who had been working there or managing it for eight years. McNerney’s name is still on the 20-year lease, which was signed in 1999.

Jackman said building owners Dave and Todd Chritton had, until recently, been friendly landlords and had “been guests at our club many, many times.” She said she was prepared to pay three times the $10,000 a month the club currently pays.

“I told them, ‘I understand the rent has to go up. I live in the real world. I live in San Francisco,’” Jackman said.

Supervisor Jane Kim, who represents the neighborhood, said that she has reached out to both the nightclub and the property owner. She said she would look at all options, including introducing special zoning legislation that would prohibit office uses on ground floor spaces in the area.

“Mezzanine is definitely an important nightlife destination in our district and a place that many of us often went to growing up in the San Francisco nightlife,” she said.

J.K. Dineen joined the San Francisco Chronicle in 2014, focusing on real estate development for the metro group, a beat that includes land use, housing, neighborhoods, the port, retail, and city parks. Prior to joining The Chronicle, he worked for the San Francisco Business Times, the San Francisco Examiner, the New York Daily News, and a bunch of newspapers in his native Massachusetts, including the Salem Evening News and the MetroWest Daily News.

He is the author of two books: Here Tomorrow, about historic preservation in California (Heyday, 2013); and the forthcoming High Spirits (Heyday 2015), a book of essays about legacy bars of San Francisco.

A graduate of Macalester College, Dineen was a member of Teach For America’s inaugural class and taught sixth grade in Brooklyn, N.Y.